This system has an integrated GPS and an interface with the automobile engine system. Based on the GPS data (which includes road height), the car can calculate the optimum speed to travel to reach the destination based on a set of parameters.
- Optimum fuel consumption
- Desired arrival time
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Speed limit excess allowed
- etc
The car will not slavishly maintain a single speed when going up and down hills, instead it will choose the most fuel efficient method of going up the hill with the knowledge that it will shortly be going down the other side. Additionally, it will be able to initiate a coast at the right time such that the car hits intersections at the optimal turning speed.
Further extending the idea, the cruise control will be designed such that it can monitor engine performance and make adjustments to the solution based on that performance. So if the nominal optimum speed for a car is 55 mph, each car will have some optimum speed around that value and the cruise system will learn that speed and adjust it as it varies over time and life of the engine.
Traffic could be accounted for by installing camera or radar type systems that already exist for maintaining a distance between vehicles.